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This article consists almost entirely of jargon. I have no idea what a "leg break" is, a stump, leg side, or many of the other terms. I can guess most from context, but that's a rather poor substitute. Parens were invented for a reason. Please insert some so us poor non-cricket players can figure out what the heck you're talking about. After all, this is supposed to be about the "ball of the century", it deserves to be readable by more than just the "fanboys". Maury 12:33, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
I sympathize with both sides here, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay firmly on the 'fanboy' side of the fence. User Dmmaus is right - there would be way too much to explain to someone who has no idea of the sport. This article is not an introduction to cricket but looks to highlight one of the game's singular achievements. Its bound to be loaded with what looks like jargon to people who don't know anything about the sport. I mean, some knowledge IS required to read the article. Explaining the dynamics of a forward defence padding or wrist and finger spin is just not on. Its like trying to follow reports of a Chess match without understanding the basic language used to denote moves; I mean, what would a Ruy-Lopez opening mean then anyway ? Sorry, but cricket IS a relatively complicated sport that is quite demanding on the average fan. It requires understanding of its nuances for any kind of fulfilling appreciation, or no go. And this is a specifically referential article. As for the leg break : its a slightly faster (but not fast - thats fast bowling)slow ball bowled by imparting a spin across the ball with fingers or wrist that will pitch in front, and a little to the left, of a right-handed batsman (not batter) and then spin away to his right side. Tigger69 22:48, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
Hi, a couple of comments. Regarding the discussion on jargon, I agree that following wikilinks for definitions can soon degenerate into a never-ending adventure. Having said, it is hardly reasonable to expect every discussion on a specialized topic to be completely self-explanatory to a complete novice. And while the fact that cricket novices are apparently reading this article is encouraging, it does beg the question of why are they bothering? I find it difficult to understand why someone who doesn't know even the most elementary cricket terms, would be interested in such an article. My second comment regards the article itself (and here I must apologise to the afore-mentioned cricket novices, as I am going to assume a working knowledge of cricketing basics!). The article describes the ball as pitching "well outside Gatting's leg stump" and then spinning sharply away from him. It may be traditional in cricket to describe a leg break as one that pitches in line with the leg stump, or the batsman, and then spins away. But this is a general description. When discussing a particular delivery, however, it is necessary to take into account the actual circumstances, since whether the ball spins away from the batsman, or towards the batsman, depends on where the ball pitches in relation to where the batsman is standing. In this case, since the ball pitched well outside Gatting's leg stump, and ended up hitting his off stump, it could only have spun towards him (in fact, across him) and therefore not away from him at all! If the batsman is left-handed, a leg break nearly always spins into him, because the only way to avoid this would be to pitch on, or outside, the left-hander's leg stump--which would be very rare. But with a right-hander like Gatting, it depends. If you pitch on the off-stump, it would surely spin away. If you pitch on middle or leg, it probably spins away. But if you pitch outside leg, then unless the batsman is standing in a very peculiar position, the ball spins towards him. (Probably the most neutral way to describe a leg break is to say it spins from the batsman's left to right: from the direction of the leg stump to the off stump for a right-hander, and from the off-stump to the leg stump for a lefty.) By the way, the video is excellent, but I just wish there was a version which could be (a) downloaded, and (b) played in slow motion! --Alistair 16:30, 13 August 2006 (UTC)
Any video anyone can find? I'd like to watch this online. -- Bash 19:18, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
Any videos/photos of this?? Would be a really good addition to the article. doles 21:40, 2005 August 15 (UTC)
A googling - haha, get it? :p - revealed this http://loadup.dr.ag/s/Warne_Vs_Gatting.wmv.HtMl / http://rapidshare.de/files/562647/Warne_Vs_Gatting.wmv.html -- Paul 12:55, 16 August 2005 (UTC)
[anonymous reader comment moved from the article by dmmaus 01:33, 9 September 2005 (UTC):] if u r reading this please try to put a weblink of the video (downloadable, preferably)of this ball. btw the so-so picture is available at http://www.lgm.com.au/productdetail.asp?catid=2&productID=219&typ=framed
An animation, or even a diagram, would be a fabulous addition. Pcb21| Pete 07:25, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
http://www.impressionsgroup.com.au/prodimages/cricket005l.jpg
Sorry folks, the link to YouTube video was ABSOLUTELY NOT of the "ball of the century", so being bold, I figured, "delete that", but I accidentally deleted the (rather poor) google video too, and I don't know how to revert / re-edit. Anyone able to fix it up please?
I did a bit of tidying up on the 'aftermath' section, some seemed to be rather over doing the reaction of Gatting as though he hadn't believed he'd been bowled 'for a few seconds'. This of course is all very subjective, but I believe if you watch the video footage this simply doesn't happen, and seems to be very biased. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gunsnroses15 ( talk • contribs) 09:58, 10 September 2008 (UTC)
Moved comment from Talk:Ball of the Century/Comments where it would probably not be seen Astronaut ( talk) 02:57, 16 July 2009 (UTC)
The description of the ball is wrong in almost every respect. For a start, Mike Gatting is described as right handed when in fact he was left handed. Therefore it was his right leg he moved forward, not his left. I suspect the article has been sabotaged, especially as it is topical at the moment.
The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Ball of the Century/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.
Moved comment to Talk:Ball of the Century#Left hander? Astronaut ( talk) 02:57, 16 July 2009 (UTC) |
Last edited at 02:57, 16 July 2009 (UTC). Substituted at 08:53, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
![]() | This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() | A fact from Ball of the Century appeared on Wikipedia's
Main Page in the
Did you know column on 16 August 2005. The text of the entry was as follows:
| ![]() |
This article consists almost entirely of jargon. I have no idea what a "leg break" is, a stump, leg side, or many of the other terms. I can guess most from context, but that's a rather poor substitute. Parens were invented for a reason. Please insert some so us poor non-cricket players can figure out what the heck you're talking about. After all, this is supposed to be about the "ball of the century", it deserves to be readable by more than just the "fanboys". Maury 12:33, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
I sympathize with both sides here, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay firmly on the 'fanboy' side of the fence. User Dmmaus is right - there would be way too much to explain to someone who has no idea of the sport. This article is not an introduction to cricket but looks to highlight one of the game's singular achievements. Its bound to be loaded with what looks like jargon to people who don't know anything about the sport. I mean, some knowledge IS required to read the article. Explaining the dynamics of a forward defence padding or wrist and finger spin is just not on. Its like trying to follow reports of a Chess match without understanding the basic language used to denote moves; I mean, what would a Ruy-Lopez opening mean then anyway ? Sorry, but cricket IS a relatively complicated sport that is quite demanding on the average fan. It requires understanding of its nuances for any kind of fulfilling appreciation, or no go. And this is a specifically referential article. As for the leg break : its a slightly faster (but not fast - thats fast bowling)slow ball bowled by imparting a spin across the ball with fingers or wrist that will pitch in front, and a little to the left, of a right-handed batsman (not batter) and then spin away to his right side. Tigger69 22:48, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
Hi, a couple of comments. Regarding the discussion on jargon, I agree that following wikilinks for definitions can soon degenerate into a never-ending adventure. Having said, it is hardly reasonable to expect every discussion on a specialized topic to be completely self-explanatory to a complete novice. And while the fact that cricket novices are apparently reading this article is encouraging, it does beg the question of why are they bothering? I find it difficult to understand why someone who doesn't know even the most elementary cricket terms, would be interested in such an article. My second comment regards the article itself (and here I must apologise to the afore-mentioned cricket novices, as I am going to assume a working knowledge of cricketing basics!). The article describes the ball as pitching "well outside Gatting's leg stump" and then spinning sharply away from him. It may be traditional in cricket to describe a leg break as one that pitches in line with the leg stump, or the batsman, and then spins away. But this is a general description. When discussing a particular delivery, however, it is necessary to take into account the actual circumstances, since whether the ball spins away from the batsman, or towards the batsman, depends on where the ball pitches in relation to where the batsman is standing. In this case, since the ball pitched well outside Gatting's leg stump, and ended up hitting his off stump, it could only have spun towards him (in fact, across him) and therefore not away from him at all! If the batsman is left-handed, a leg break nearly always spins into him, because the only way to avoid this would be to pitch on, or outside, the left-hander's leg stump--which would be very rare. But with a right-hander like Gatting, it depends. If you pitch on the off-stump, it would surely spin away. If you pitch on middle or leg, it probably spins away. But if you pitch outside leg, then unless the batsman is standing in a very peculiar position, the ball spins towards him. (Probably the most neutral way to describe a leg break is to say it spins from the batsman's left to right: from the direction of the leg stump to the off stump for a right-hander, and from the off-stump to the leg stump for a lefty.) By the way, the video is excellent, but I just wish there was a version which could be (a) downloaded, and (b) played in slow motion! --Alistair 16:30, 13 August 2006 (UTC)
Any video anyone can find? I'd like to watch this online. -- Bash 19:18, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
Any videos/photos of this?? Would be a really good addition to the article. doles 21:40, 2005 August 15 (UTC)
A googling - haha, get it? :p - revealed this http://loadup.dr.ag/s/Warne_Vs_Gatting.wmv.HtMl / http://rapidshare.de/files/562647/Warne_Vs_Gatting.wmv.html -- Paul 12:55, 16 August 2005 (UTC)
[anonymous reader comment moved from the article by dmmaus 01:33, 9 September 2005 (UTC):] if u r reading this please try to put a weblink of the video (downloadable, preferably)of this ball. btw the so-so picture is available at http://www.lgm.com.au/productdetail.asp?catid=2&productID=219&typ=framed
An animation, or even a diagram, would be a fabulous addition. Pcb21| Pete 07:25, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
http://www.impressionsgroup.com.au/prodimages/cricket005l.jpg
Sorry folks, the link to YouTube video was ABSOLUTELY NOT of the "ball of the century", so being bold, I figured, "delete that", but I accidentally deleted the (rather poor) google video too, and I don't know how to revert / re-edit. Anyone able to fix it up please?
I did a bit of tidying up on the 'aftermath' section, some seemed to be rather over doing the reaction of Gatting as though he hadn't believed he'd been bowled 'for a few seconds'. This of course is all very subjective, but I believe if you watch the video footage this simply doesn't happen, and seems to be very biased. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gunsnroses15 ( talk • contribs) 09:58, 10 September 2008 (UTC)
Moved comment from Talk:Ball of the Century/Comments where it would probably not be seen Astronaut ( talk) 02:57, 16 July 2009 (UTC)
The description of the ball is wrong in almost every respect. For a start, Mike Gatting is described as right handed when in fact he was left handed. Therefore it was his right leg he moved forward, not his left. I suspect the article has been sabotaged, especially as it is topical at the moment.
The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Ball of the Century/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.
Moved comment to Talk:Ball of the Century#Left hander? Astronaut ( talk) 02:57, 16 July 2009 (UTC) |
Last edited at 02:57, 16 July 2009 (UTC). Substituted at 08:53, 29 April 2016 (UTC)